What makes Exmoor Caviar unlike any other caviar you can buy in the UK? The answer starts with the water. The sturgeon at Exmoor's Devon farm draw directly from the River Mole - 40 million litres of fresh Devon water per day, filtered naturally through layers of slate, shale and sandstone. It's this mineral-rich, crystal-clear water that gives Exmoor Caviar its signature clean, delicate flavour - distinct from the heavier, saltier profile of many imported caviars.
Sturgeon are ancient fish, and they take time. Siberian Sturgeon, the species farmed at Exmoor, take around eight years to mature to the point where roe can be harvested. The process itself is meticulous: fish are humanely culled, the roe extracted by hand, then preserved in Cornish sea salt before being packed into tins. No shortcuts, no preservatives, no corners cut. The result is a caviar that now appears on the menus of more than 100 of the UK's Michelin-starred restaurants - from Alex Dilling to Restaurant Sat Bains.
The range available at Farmfetch covers the full Exmoor Caviar collection: Siberian (Baerii) Caviar - clean and mild, the ideal entry point; Oscietra - nuttier and more complex, with medium-to-large golden-brown eggs; Royal Beluski - a hybrid of Beluga and Siberian, richer and more intensely flavoured; and Beluga - the rarest and most prized of all, with large, soft eggs and a buttery, lingering finish. Taster sets are also available, making them an elegant gift or an ideal introduction for the caviar-curious.
For serving, keep it simple. Caviar is best eaten from a non-reactive spoon — mother of pearl, bone or horn are traditional, though a clean plastic spoon works perfectly well. Serve cold, directly from the tin. Blinis, smoked salmon and a glass of Champagne or triple distilled vodka are the classic accompaniments — but a spoonful straight from the tin, with no ceremony whatsoever, is also a very fine thing.
